erickson
Honorable
When I think of high strangeness I often think of a now deceased friend who seemed to attract such experiences. This is my favorite story of his because it blurs the line between perception and experience.
One day I was having breakfast with my friend and mentioned that I recently had hiked the Palisade Trail above Calistoga in Northern California. He told me that he when he was a teenager he used to ride a dirt bike up there on occasion - back in the day when you could take a motorized vehicle up the old dirt toad.
One day he saw someone looking disoriented and asked the man if he needed help, The man asked what day it was. My friend told him the day, but the man needed to know the date. When he learned the date, the man said, "Oh my God, my wife is going to kill me." The man asked where he was.
The man stated that he lived thousands of miles away (my friend could not quite recall where, but thought it was in the Dakotas.) He had entered a cave and met beings who lived in an underworld. He stayed with them, but eventually realized that he had to return to his wife and family. My friend helped helped him down the hill and called the man's wife. She cried and said that they had called off the search parties a couple of weeks ago. She thought he was dead.
My friend borrowed money to get the man a bus ride home. A few weeks later he got a note from his wife paying him back. She wrote that everything my husband told him was true and she was going to visit the underworld in a few weeks.
In retrospect I should have asked my friend if he remembered more details about what the underworld was like. But my main focus was on my friend's experience. And the conversation moved on.
As far as I can tell there are three options with the story:
1. My friend lied to me. He was always honest in other respects. I purchased something through him and he went beyond the call of duty in that instance. I loaned him money, thinking he might never be in a position to pay me back, but he did. He had no reason to make up the story.
2. My friend - or the man he met - was delusional. Perhaps. But the missing time and distance, the phone call, the bus ticket, and the letter from his wife would have been real. It would have taken some effort to get up to trail, particularly without food, water, or money.
3. There is an underworld that links through the Palisades. It's a magical trail with volcanic formations, cliffs, and amazing views. But there is certainly no geological evidence to account for the tale. Do I believe there is an inhabited underworld? No.
So I put the story in the "I don't have to believe or disbelieve it" category. Something to enjoy on its own terms. In other words, strangeness.
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After submitting I realized that the title of the thread has a typo that can't be edited. Typing at 6 in the morning on a tablet because I woke up early. But that was not meant to be strange.
One day I was having breakfast with my friend and mentioned that I recently had hiked the Palisade Trail above Calistoga in Northern California. He told me that he when he was a teenager he used to ride a dirt bike up there on occasion - back in the day when you could take a motorized vehicle up the old dirt toad.
One day he saw someone looking disoriented and asked the man if he needed help, The man asked what day it was. My friend told him the day, but the man needed to know the date. When he learned the date, the man said, "Oh my God, my wife is going to kill me." The man asked where he was.
The man stated that he lived thousands of miles away (my friend could not quite recall where, but thought it was in the Dakotas.) He had entered a cave and met beings who lived in an underworld. He stayed with them, but eventually realized that he had to return to his wife and family. My friend helped helped him down the hill and called the man's wife. She cried and said that they had called off the search parties a couple of weeks ago. She thought he was dead.
My friend borrowed money to get the man a bus ride home. A few weeks later he got a note from his wife paying him back. She wrote that everything my husband told him was true and she was going to visit the underworld in a few weeks.
In retrospect I should have asked my friend if he remembered more details about what the underworld was like. But my main focus was on my friend's experience. And the conversation moved on.
As far as I can tell there are three options with the story:
1. My friend lied to me. He was always honest in other respects. I purchased something through him and he went beyond the call of duty in that instance. I loaned him money, thinking he might never be in a position to pay me back, but he did. He had no reason to make up the story.
2. My friend - or the man he met - was delusional. Perhaps. But the missing time and distance, the phone call, the bus ticket, and the letter from his wife would have been real. It would have taken some effort to get up to trail, particularly without food, water, or money.
3. There is an underworld that links through the Palisades. It's a magical trail with volcanic formations, cliffs, and amazing views. But there is certainly no geological evidence to account for the tale. Do I believe there is an inhabited underworld? No.
So I put the story in the "I don't have to believe or disbelieve it" category. Something to enjoy on its own terms. In other words, strangeness.
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After submitting I realized that the title of the thread has a typo that can't be edited. Typing at 6 in the morning on a tablet because I woke up early. But that was not meant to be strange.
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